It’s great to see Charles Grodin acting again. For about 11 years, the legendary screen actor who sublimely segued between comedy and drama, took a break from acting for a career in the TV news realm. Grodin returned to the big screen in 2006 in the Jason Bateman-Zach Braff comedy The Ex, and lately he’s been guest…

FX stressed that this is no April Fools gag. The network has made the entire fourth season of its Louis C.K. series Louie available for streaming via the FX Now app starting today through the premiere of Season 5 on April 9. Last season featured the episode “So Did The Fat Lady,” for which Louis C.K. earned a WGA…

A surprisingly ho-hum awards season for HBO’s buzzy new drama True Detective ended on a high note tonight when the first season of the mystery drama won two WGA Awards, for best drama series and best new series. Hailed as a likely awards heavyweight last spring, True Detective didn’t live up to the expectations, with…

Wes Anderson and Hugh Guinness took the Original Screenplay honor tonight for The Grand Budapest Hotel at the WGA Awards and Graham Moore took Adapted Screenplay for The Imitation Game. Said Anderson from the LA ceremony, "I wrote the script with my old friend Hugo who joined the alternative branch on the East Coast…

FX is creating a power block of shows featuring standup comedians, pairing the new Billy Crystal series The Comedians with Louis CK’s Louie. The Comedians, which co-stars Josh Gad, will debut April 9 at 10 PM, leading into the eight-episode fifth season of Louie. That is actually one episode more than the original…

The WGA has unveiled its nominations in TV, new media, news, radio, and promotional writing for its 2015 Writers Guild Awards, to be unveiled February 14 simultaneously in LA and NY. On the TV side, news shows feature prominently, with HBO’s True Detective and Silicon Valley and Amazon’s Transparent breaking through…

Among comedy series Emmy nominees, the competition is just as fierce as on the drama side. But things look a little brighter for the traditional networks in this category after being shut out in drama. ABC’s undefeated four-time champ Modern Family will try to defend its title against the No. 1 comedy and perennial…

It was a risky proposition, but Noah Hawley’s take on the Coen brothers classic Fargo was deemed a critical success, landing 18 Emmy nominations, and it drew a sizable total audience when time-shifted viewing and encores are factored in. Not surprisingly, FX is ordering a second 10-episode installment, with Hawley…

After a 19-month hiatus, the Season 4 premiere of FX comedy Louie came in 19% above the show’s Season 3 average (941,000 vs. 791,000) and up 26% in adults 18-49 (635,000 vs. 505,000). FX argued that placing “any major significance” on season-to-season premiere episodes comparisons “makes little sense”  because the Seas…

The offbeat comedy that won a writing Emmy in 2012 and scored the first Outstanding Comedy Series nom for a basic cable show finally is  heading back to a TV screen near you. There was no Emmy love for FX’s Louie last year, however, because the cable net said in October 2012 that series was taking a year off. But…

FX Networks is making it clear it wants to stay in the Louis CK business. The network already has Louis CK’s acclaimed comedy series  Louie, produced by FX Productions. Now FX Prods. has inked an overall deal with Louis CK and his company Pig Newton to develop and produce new series. The agreement is separate from Loui…

Ray Richmond contributes to Deadline’s TV coverage: Looking and sounding more relaxed than he has, well, maybe ever, Louis C.K. told a sold-out PaleyFest: Made in NY audience tonight at the Paley Center in New York that his look of renewed vigor is no illusion. "I'm feeling a huge amount more energy," C.K. said…